Shades of Grey Chapter 12
Title: Shades of Grey Chapter 12
Author: TalliW
Characters: Stephen Hart, Tom Ryan, Nick Cutter, James Lester, Abby Maitland, Connor Temple, Jenny Lewis, Oliver Leek, Lyle, Finn, Helen Cutter, Ditzy
Rating: K+, T in later chapters
Disclaimer: Primeval is the property of Impossible Pictures. I write just for fun.
Lyle and Finn belong to Fredbassett.
Acknowledgments: Thanks to the wonderful Fredbassett for beta duty.
Summary: Ryan has survived but he isn't the man he was. Can Stephen and Cutter manage to work together to help him? Perhaps Ryan has changed in more ways than it appears on first sight.
Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5
Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Ryan was nibbling on his chocolate bar when Jenny barged into Lester's office and sank down on a chair.
"The situation is mostly under control," she explained.
Lester took in Jenny's exhausted state. "And the press?"
"Was buying the statement that a carriage full of animals for a science lab had crashed."
"What about the witnesses?"
"Most of them backed down when I started asking them to testify to what they’d seen. Of course it worked in our favour that the animals coming through the anomaly were mammals and that the witnesses were mostly older people with bad eyesight."
"You’ve used the term mostly three times too often. Do I have to worry?"
"Well," Jenny started with a sigh. "There is still this teenager who swears to high heaven that he’s seen a sabre-toothed puma. According to Cutter that creature was... Just a moment." Jenny fished her notepad out of her bag, "... a Thylacosmilus from the Miocene," she read loudly. "which looks like a large puma with sabre teeth. It's the only animal still on the run. But Stephen is already on its trail."
"Good. Will that kid cause trouble?"
A wicked smile flitted over Jenny's face. "I don't think so. It seems it's our lucky day. The father of the boy came over and accused him of smoking weed again. When the father told the story of how his son had recently climbed up a tree because he felt threatened by lilac cows the last two persistent reporters scrammed off."
Ryan, once again sitting on the floor with the toy cars, had peeked up as Jenny mentioned Stephen and was now watching her with interest. But without Stephen at his side, bolstering him up, he didn't dare to address her. Especially not after Stephen had told him how rude he had been to Miss Lewis.
Jenny felt Ryan observing her out of the corner of his eyes and said in a lowered voice to Lester, "I'm surprised you’re keeping him here."
"Better here than with Stephen on the hunt, or down in the atrium near the anomaly detector. Besides I wanted to see for myself if his memory loss is real. The physicians said so but they could have been deceived."
"And now you’re sure?"
"Quite so. He would have to be a brilliant actor to pull off such a stunt."
"With his habit of blurting everything out he may be a security risk," Jenny pointed out.
"That's the reason I pulled some strings to get him out of the hospital so early before Cutter or Hart could accidentally let the cat out of the bag." Sighing Lester glanced over to Ryan who licked a chocolate crumb from his finger. "I know I probably should keep him in custody. But caging a six year old?"
"I don't think that's necessary. We just have to keep him away from the secret stuff. Maybe his memories will be triggered here."
"I hope so. He's the first military operative I can actually stand and he’s also done quite a good job of keeping the scientists in line. You’ve seen how Cutter can be."
Impressed by Lester's praise about the captain, Jenny turned around to Ryan whose eyes were now resting on her with an enthralled expression.
"What gives, Tom? Any more nosy questions you want to ask me?"
Ryan quickly looked away, blushing furiously.
"It's nice," he muttered shyly.
"What do you mean? What’s nice?"
"Your dress. You look like a princess."
"Oh, thank you. But this is just an old one. I’d thought about throwing it away but then I..."
"If that’s all, you have to excuse me. I have other things to do rather than listening to inane chatter about wardrobes," Lester interrupted her with a wave to the stack of reports he'd still to read.
"Oh, of course. I'll leave you to it then."
"Ryan, I mean Tom. Where are you going?" Lester asked, irritated, whilst rubbing his temple as Ryan started to follow Jenny. Cutter's and Connor's latest reports had given him a migraine. Where the former wrote to little about the real happenings, he indulged in excessive descriptions of the animals and their natural habitats. And most of the computer terms Connor used couldn't even be found in the dictionary.
"Chatting with Jenny," Ryan answered brightly.
"It's all right, James. I’ll keep an eye on him so you can read your reports undisturbed," Jenny assured Lester. "Stephen will probably be back within an hour anyway."
"If you like."
After a moment Lester called after them, "But at least put the toy cars back on the desk. In case someone trips over them."
But Jenny and Ryan were already out of earshot.
"So Lester gave you sweets and toys?"
"Oh, yes. He's nice. But sometimes he calls me Ryan."
"Cutter calls me Claudia all the time," Jenny admitted.
"Weird," Ryan replied with a head shake.
"You can say so. Perhaps something is in the water."
Ryan wandered through Jenny's office, curiously taking in the knickknacks, photos and the two flower pots. "Your room is nicer than the others. Not so cold. More like a home. Is that a cactus over there?"
"Ouch!" Ryan cried out and eyed the cactus that had just pricked him in the fingertip respectfully.
A glimmer of a smile played around Jenny's lips as she watched Ryan. With his naive, straightforward approach to the world he was adorable.
She hadn't known Captain Ryan, only read about him in the reports. Yet she was sure she wouldn't have connected with the reserved soldier. Tom, however, had instantly won her heart the moment she had seen him standing up to Leek in the atrium.
Now Ryan touched the cactus again but a lot more carefully than before. A grin spread over his face as the fine hairs of the cactus tickled his fingertips. He repeated the move a couple of times but pulled back early enough before the prickles could penetrate his skin.
"I wish I could have a cactus too. Stephen hasn't even got a vase with flowers."
He wandered back to the desk and studied the photograph of a man on a horse next to the monitor.
"Is that your husband?"
"Not yet. That's my fiance."
"Why aren't you married yet? Didn't you want to?"
For just a moment a shadow brushed over Jenny's face. "Well, my fiance wants to make a name for himself first before he starts a family."
"Isn't he worried you could find someone else? I would marry you on the spot."
"You’re a real sweet talker. Don't you think I'm too old for you?" Jenny couldn't help but tease Ryan.
"Nope. Mrs. Lipton's first husband was over thirty years years older than her and she always said her younger husbands couldn't hold a candle to him."
"Mrs. Lipton?"
"She lived in the house next door to Granny and has been married four times already. What's the name of the cactus?"
"Sorry, I don't know the botanical name of it. I bought it because it had such wonderful little red blossoms. But apparently I don't have green fingers for cacti. It hasn't blossomed again since."
"You should talk to it. My Granny always did and she had the beautifulest flowers in the whole street."
"I’d better not. I wouldn't know what to say to a cactus. How about you take him home with you and see if he likes it better there?"
"Oh yes. Thank you. I'll take good care of it."
Jenny found herself with an arm full of thankful Ryan who almost crushed her in his joy.
Then Ryan heard Cutter's voice from the atrium. "Stephen's back," he shouted with glee. Racing out of the office and down the ramp he left Jenny standing in her office, slightly dazed.